Effective Academic Writing

 How to write compelling,
cogent and forceful

 The presentation will address paragraphs
Effective the following:
 The elements of an effective
 What effective writing paragraph
Academic entails
 The author’s stance and voice
Writing: The sentence structure in a paragraph
Prepared by The need to vary sentence
development styles
 Cohesive devices and
signposting
Dr I. Choto Word Choice  Effective use of attributive
[email protected] verbs when introducing
sources
 Paragraph length
 A sentence is the basic unit of any written communication. It is
basically a collection of words assembled in an order that presents
a complete thought or idea.
 The sentence is a critical textual component because it allows us
to order our thoughts.
Sentence  In linguistics the term syntax captures the ordering of words to

articulate what we need to say. The arrangement of words in a
Structure sentence helps the writer to express his or her intent.
 In a well thought out sentence, the writer chooses his or her words
and decide when, where and how to use them in order to create
maximum impact.
 In executing the above, rules of grammar must apply e.g sentence
structure and punctuation
 Sentence structure and word choice will depend on your purpose
or what you intend to achieve.
 Clearly, an academic write-up is shorn of emotive language, and
Syntactical informal expressions. Flowery language and sentence fragments
considerations are not desirable in academic writing.
 For maximum impact , sentences in an academic write-up must be
succinct, straightforward and lucid. Lucidity speaks to clarity of
thought.
 When making choices on the length of sentences, consider the
following:
 Long sentences may betray confusion or the failure to order one’s
Whether to thoughts
Long sentences may betray the rapid flow of ideas and emotions
use long which the writer fails to reign in.
sentences or Long sentences may suggest the enormity, weight or
extensiveness of an idea.
shorter Shorter sentences are most desirable when trying to express a key
sentences idea. Here brevity (conciseness) and precision are the key.
If you want to sound objective or factual, shorter sentences can
deliver the goods for you. Facts do not demand convoluted or
roundabout sentences to articulate them.
 Complex sentences show
 There are varying types of relationships and priorities
sentences one can use to
 Compound-complex
achieve high impact in thesis
writing. Consider the sentences are used to
articulate a complex or
Sentence following:
complicated phenomenon
types  Short simple sentences
attract attention
which requires a lot of
information to capture it.
 Compound sentences can be  In the following slides the
deployed when you are sentence typologies are
comparing things briefly explained and
exemplified.
 A simple sentence contains a single subject and a single predicate.
The subject is the noun (person, place or thing). The predicate
contains the verb which identifies what the subject is doing. Put
simply, a sentence has a subject, a verb and an object.
The Simple  Here is an example: The man kicked the ball. ‘The man’ is the
subject, and ‘kicked the ball’ is the predicate. In the predicate,
Sentence there is the verb ‘kicked’ and the object ‘the ball’.
 To this sentence you can add some descriptive elements to avail
more information to the reader, e.g ‘The man skillfully kicked the
red ball’. The adverb ‘skillfully’ and the adjective ‘red’ are your
descriptive elements.
 A compound sentence is made up of two or more independent
clauses combined using a coordinating conjunction such as and,
or, or but.
The  A clause contains a subject and a predicate. An independent
clause expresses a complete thought.
Compound  A simple sentence is an independent clause.
Sentence  ‘The man kicked the ball, but he missed the net’. In this sentence,
‘the man kicked the ball’ and ‘he missed the net’ are independent
clauses. As you can see, each independent clause can be a stand-
alone complete sentence.
 A complex sentence contains more than one subject and more
than one verb.
 It is made up of more than one clause: an independent clause and
a dependent clause
 A dependent or subordinate clause contains a subject and a
The complex predicate but does not express a complete thought.
sentence  A dependent clause often begins with a subordinating conjunction
or relative pronoun that makes the clause unable to stand alone.
 A complex sentence therefore joins an independent and a
dependent clause, e.g the man kicked the ball that was set in the
penalty box. The man kicked the ball is an independent clause,
while ‘that was set in the penalty box’ is a dependent clause.
 This is made up of two independent clauses and one or more
dependent clauses.
 ‘Although he enjoys playing soccer, the man has not had the time
The compound to practice lately, and he has not found anyone to practice with’.
–complex  ‘although he enjoys playing soccer’ is the dependent clause. ‘ The

man has not had the time to practice lately’ and ‘he has not found
sentence anyone to practice with’ are independent clauses.
 Many students enjoy writing compound-complex sentences when
they have not fully mastered the simple, compound , and complex
sentences.
1. Sentence fragments: this refers to a group of incorrectly
punctuated words masquerading as a complete sentence but
lacks a subject, verb or both. It can simply be a dependent
clause that is not attached to an independent clause
Some 2. Run-on sentences and comma splices: here you may have two
common or more independent clauses that are connected incorrectly.
sentence 3. Lack of subject-verb agreement: incorrect use of verb forms in

relation to their subjects.
errors 4. Nonstandard verb forms and inconsistent verb tense: verb
forms not accepted in standard usage; shifts in verb tense that
cause confusion and ambiguity.
5. Faulty pronoun case and reference: unclear pronoun reference.
 Varying sentence structure can reduce repetition, monotony and
add emphasis to your text
 Overusing a sentence type can hinder a reader’s engagement with
Varying the text.
sentence  Understanding the sentence types we looked at above will help

writers note areas that should be varied through the use of
development clauses, conjunctions and subordinators
style  Overusing long sentences makes your text appear circuitous and
rumbling.
 Overusing short sentences makes your writing choppy, it takes
away rhythm from the text.
 This refers to the selection of appropriate words to make your text
riveting and compelling.
 When writing your thesis, think carefully about words and choose
them meticulously.
 Effective word choice captivates the reader’s attention and
clarifies meaning
Word choice or  Use power words that create mental pictures in the reader’s mind.
Such words include precise nouns, active verbs, descriptive
diction adjectives and strong adverbs.
 Effective word choice frees your writing from a lot of filler and
fluff. Many times students use words in their text which add no
value to the argument or idea. Fluff detracts from the meaning
and quality of your work. This is why winnowing has served our
mothers very well.
 When you choose the wrong word you weaken your writing
 Wrong choice of words may undermine your credibility, confuse
Word choice readers and can make reading your text a drudgery i.e wearisome
labour
 Wrong words can cast a wrong tone over your text
 The right word is one that succinctly expresses what you want to
say.
 Right words are :
How to choose Specific
the right word Resonate with your audience

In sync with the type of writing you are engaged in. For example,
there is no scope for emotive language in academic writing
In sync with the style and tone of the overall text
 The skill of structuring paragraphs and building effective
How to write a connections between them allows you to marshal a compelling
and rigorous argument in your text.
cogent and  Flow and connectivity allow the reader to grasp the thread of the
forceful argument from one sentence to the other and from one paragraph
to the next.
paragraph  A well-written paragraph is the talisman or magic wand you want
to deliver forceful and seamlessly lucid thesis.
 A well written paragraph must have the following components:
The Topic sentence which states the main idea which the
paragraph seeks to present. It sets the reader’s expectations
regarding the idea to be developed in the paragraph.
Explanation or development: This clarifies any difficult or unclear
The structure terms in the topic sentence and discusses the idea in detail
of a powerful Evidence: supports or develops the main idea with facts,

examples, scholarly citations, arguments and statistics that
paragraph buttress your argument
Comment: this may explain the meaning of your evidence,
supports or develops the evidence with analysis
Concluding sentence or summary: this states the implications of
the paragraph, links back to the topic sentence, and links forward
to the main idea of the next paragraph
 Put forward by Godwin (2009), the WEED model captures what a
paragraph must encapsulate.
 W is for What. The first sentence, your topic sentence, should
make it clear what idea or thought you are covering.
Paragraphing-  E is for Evidence. You need to buttress or reinforce your idea with
quality research which is appropriately referenced. Explain what
the WEED the evidence means; not all evidence is exegetical or self-
explanatory. Show how the evidence relate to your point.
Model  E for Example. Consider using examples that clarify or illustrate
your subject.
 D is for Do. Sum up, overall main point summarized /evaluated or
state the implications of your evidence. Link forward to the main
idea of the next paragraph (transitioning to the next paragraph).
 As you write your text it is important that the voice that must be
heard foremost is yours
 The author’s voice is projected through choice of verbs, adjectives
and cautious phrases (hedging) that run through the paragraph
 Author’s stance (academic locus standi) should be illustrated
throughout the text.
Author’s  Examples of words illustrating stance or voice include: can,
stance /voice possibly, will demonstrate, tend to, alleges etc think of attributive
verbs used when introducing sources in your text.
 Oftentimes, students string citations in their text without
providing a commentary on what the citation is coming to do in
the text.
 This muffles the writers voice leaving the many voices of the cited
scholars creating a confusing discord.
 A PhD or Mphil thesis is not a celebration of banal, unimaginative
pedestrian writing
 As you cite sources, your task is not simply to catalogue, echo,
parrot and uncritically endorse the perspectives of the scholars
Author’s voice you cite. Interrogate them, critique them, evaluate them,
synthesize them. This is the province of critical thinking.
 A writing that simply endorses what is there already says nothing
new and cannot be celebrated as a PhD thesis.
 Cohesive devices are used to connect the idea in your paragraph
to the evidence.
 They are also used to connect sentences in the paragraph and to
connect paragraphs.
 They help to create a seamlessly cohesive text which hangs
together as a unit. Lucidity in writing can be achieved through
Cohesive effective use of cohesive devices.
devices  If your sentences in a paragraph are not properly connected you
produce writing that is desultory, confused, haphazard, scattered
and indigestible. This produces nothing but a mediocre thesis
which can only pass on the basis of the examiners’ magnanimity.
 The cohesive device you use are determined by what you want the
sentence to do and the relationship it has with the preceding
sentence.
 When ever you feel you have exhausted a point, begin a new
paragraph
 If you paragraph is one page long, it is likely that you have covered
Paragraph more than one point
 Loading a paragraph with many points affects the flow of your
Length paragraph and the readability of your text.
 An overloaded paragraph runs the risk of presenting half-baked
points which is a major blow on textual cohesion and the
meaning-making process.

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 How to write compelling,

cogent and forceful

Sentence  In linguistics the term syntax captures the ordering of words to

–complex  ‘although he enjoys playing soccer’ is the dependent clause. ‘ The

sentence 3. Lack of subject-verb agreement: incorrect use of verb forms in

sentence  Understanding the sentence types we looked at above will help

the right word Resonate with your audience

of a powerful Evidence: supports or develops the main idea with facts,

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